The OFFICIAL weblog for the Oklahoma Democratic Party written by our staff and officers. OK Blue Notes provides a quick look inside party activities at the county, state, and national level and takes a positive approach to our mission of electing Democrats. This site is best viewed using the Firefox browser.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Republican Gary Jones drug Oklahoma political campaigns to a new low this week by dramatically distorting Christmas-time video footage of his opponent in a desperate attempt to deceive voters and divert attention from his own stalled campaign and personal failures. The doctor who owns the footage said he was “shocked and outraged” by the illegal use of his proprietary material.

“This is an improper use of material that belongs to me. I did not authorize its use. I did not sell the material to Mister Jones. I would never allow this type of material to be used in a political commercial like this,” Dr. Don White of Edmond said.

White is a clinical hypnotherapist who routinely does stage shows, events and parties where he hypnotizes guests and gets them to do or say something they would never normally do.

“This material was copied illegally from one of my shows. Gary Jones should know this recording should not have been made and he is, in my opinion, illegally and improperly using this material and I demand he stop immediately.”

White also demanded television stations stop airing the ad or face the potential consequences. An attorney representing White is contacting Jones’ campaign and television stations, demanding the ad be pulled down or face potential legal action.

White said that while he had McMahan under hypnosis at a holiday party he gave him an instruction that he could not count or use the number 6, thereby causing McMahan to appear to be unable to count. White said the skit is a standard show routine that is done “all in fun and is particularly funny when you have an accountant, banker or auditor on the stage.”

The holiday festival footage was taken prior to McMahan taking office four years ago.

“Gary Jones’ entire campaign when talking about Jeff McMahan is a lie. He lies to the press. He lies to Oklahoma voters,” Pat Hall of the McMahan campaign said. “Gary Jones has taken advantage of Jeff McMahan’s good-natured participation in festivities, where everyone was enjoying the most important holiday of the year, and used it in a desperate smear campaign,” Hall said.

Hall said Jones has resorted to the smear campaign to cover up Jones taking campaign contributions from indicted scam artist who robbed taxpayers, and from the fact that he was audited and cited for improperly shuffling money in his brief tenure as a Comanche County Commissioner.

“Gary Jones was such a poor manager of taxpayer dollars that his actions may have forced the people of Comanche County to repay nearly $200,000 to a federal agency,” Hall said on behalf of the campaign.

Jones and his former business partner, according to court records, also battled it out in court after a special court-appointed accountant found Jones making questionable payments to himself from company funds. Jones paid his partner a cash settlement in the case.

“Gary Jones from all appearances cannot manage his own money. He looks like a failed businessman who has never conducted the types of audits done by the state agency he seeks to lead.

“If Jones is elected, he could turn the only state agency guarding the expenditure of our tax dollars into a cesspool of corruption and personal political vendettas,” Hall said.